


Falling Blossoms

by scoottt



Category: SK8 the Infinity (Anime)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Not Beta Read, brief mention of Langa, set after the events of episode nine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 15:22:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29903124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scoottt/pseuds/scoottt
Summary: Set right after the events of episode nine.Cherry's injured, and not just his body. His pride and his feelings are wounded, too. As the dust settles, he's left all alone on the track of S - alone aside from the last person he wanted to see after being handed a solid - albeit unfair - defeat.
Relationships: Nanjo Kojiro | Joe/Sakurayashiki Kaoru | Cherry Blossom
Comments: 4
Kudos: 158





	Falling Blossoms

It was a miracle that it didn’t kill him.

From the speed that Cherry was careening down the twists, turns, and straightaways on S’s rugged course on Carla to the violent force with which Adam swung his horned skateboard, the pink-haired man was lucky that his beautiful face didn’t end up shattered and rearranged beyond recognition. How “fortunate” he was to have his head break his fall as he flew backwards, sent flying by the impact, Carla skittering farther and farther away down the track before skidding to a stop. It felt as though he soared through the air in slow motion, shocked eyes wide as he gazed up at the night sky above him, the stars still shining brightly despite the yellowish glow of the lighting along S.

In reality, it was a split second between the impact of the skateboard to his face and the impact of his skull on the pavement. It was blinding when he hit the ground, occipital lobe jostled around like a child shaking the bag that held the goldfish they just got from the pet store. Cherry saw a new set of stars then, ones that danced behind his eyelids, tightly squeezed shut as he gasped behind his shredded mask. 

When he opened his honey-coloured eyes once more, he saw Adam looming over him. Cherry struggled to pay attention to what Adam was saying - how could he focus when his brain felt like it was in a washing machine, swirling around and drowning in the water that filled the basin? He caught it, though, when Adam finally offered up an explanation for avoiding accepting his challenges to a beef all of those years: the man who used to be one of his best friends thought he, Sakurayashiki Kaoru, was boring.

That word ricocheted around his mind faster than the speed of light, a resounding insult that pierced his heart that only got louder and louder each time it bounced off the walls of his consciousness. Cherry could barely hear Adam going on and on about Langa being his Eve over the sound of his own screaming thoughts. The world seemed so far away as he lay there, aching something fierce both in his body and in his soul - so far away, in fact, that he didn’t even realise it when everyone began to clear away. 

The S tournament was, undoubtedly, finished for that night.

No one dared to scrape the fallen blossom off of the dusty ground, not wanting to go against Adam. Well, that was true for all but one person, who approached slowly yet purposefully. Cherry hadn’t realised his eyes had slipped closed once again until he noticed a shadow darkening and invading his face as those solid footsteps stopped by his side. When he blearily blinked back to reality, he saw a familiar mop of green hair and tanned skin towering over him. “Did you come to laugh at me, you hulking gorilla?”

Joe sighed heavily as he crouched down next to the injured man on the ground. “I came to make sure you were alright, you damned four-eyes, but maybe I should just leave you here to rot until the next tournament.” There wasn’t that usual irritated tone to his voice that was seemingly permanent when they bickered. Instead, there was a hint of concern. Cherry would’ve commented on it if he wasn’t constantly teetering on the fence between consciousness and unconsciousness. He commended himself for staying awake as long as he had despite the pain that begged him to just accept the fact that he wasn’t meant to be awake by that point. He was stubborn, though.

Cherry weakly pushed at Joe’s chest when the other man gathered him up in his muscular arms, cradling him against his chest. It was shameful to be held like this by a man that had no place touching him, but the pink-haired man found himself finally relaxing against Joe’s body. The waves of unconsciousness were lapping at his feet as he stood in limbo on the beach in his mind, and soon enough they overtook him, washing over him as they pulled him under into blissful nothingness.

\---

When Cherry came to, he was in a place he hadn’t imagined he’d find himself in again - and the last room he’d willingly go into. There were bandages wrapped around his head, and he found himself thankful for the fact that the pervasive stickiness and warmth of blood was no longer matting his carnation hair down. It took him a moment to register it as he lay there in the darkness of the familiar bedroom that there was a heavy arm draped around his midsection. How did he completely miss not only that, but the loud snoring beside him? Well, the practically inevitable concussion he more than likely ended up with could be blamed for that fact, he told himself.

“Wake up,” Cherry hissed, slapping the sculpted bicep of the arm that held him close. “You’re crushing me, you behemoth.” His throat was drier than the winding paths of S during a drought, and it felt like he swallowed a load of sand. Relief washed over him when the arm lazily moved from his slim waist, but it was short-lived as a large hand came up to cup his cheek, thumb gently trailing along his bruised cheekbone.

“Shut up, robot maniac,” Joe sleepily drawled. “Just go back to sleep.”

“How can I when I’m stuck lying next to your repulsive self?” Cherry riposted.

“You’re welcome for picking your ass up off the track,” Joe mumbled back, thumb still brushing over Cherry’s cheek in a soothing manner. “You’re extra welcome for grabbing Carla while I was at it. Should’a just left her there.” 

The talented calligrapher found himself silent, unable to come back with any sort of retort when he knew that he owed his old friend gratitude. If he was left there overnight, bleeding on the ground and enveloped in the inky blackness of the twilight hour, it wouldn’t be all too surprising if he wound up dead. A sigh heavier than an anvil left Cherry’s split lips, the wounded man sounding like he was deflating. “Thank you.”

“That’s better,” came the tired reply.

“One question, though.”

Silence stretched on, and Cherry thought for a moment that Joe had perhaps fallen back to sleep. Eventually, though, he could hear a muffled, “Yeah?”

“Did you really have to get into bed with me?”

“It’s my bed,” Joe responded, lifting his head and fixing Cherry with an intense amber gaze that cut through the dark of the bedroom. 

“Fair enough.”


End file.
